Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
I’ll let the BitTorrent Sync website explain (in several quick quotes) what the product does:
“Sync never stores your files on servers, so they stay safe from data breaches and prying eyes. Create a Sync folder for your stuff. Open it on any computer, phone, or tablet. Access docs, share photos, and start working from anywhere. BitTorrent Sync skips the cloud to deliver your files at lightning speed. No matter where you are. Sync, send and share as much as you want. There are no file size limits, or caps on creativity. It’s as simple as that.
First you’ll want to go to http://www.bittorrent.com/sync/downloads and download either the x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version. You’ll get an archive file which contains two files; a license (which we don’t need) and an executable file.
Unarchive the btsync_x64 (or btsync_x86) .tar.gz file. I have my btsync file (the executable) in /home/ronnie/BitTorrent Sync.
Run it by opening a terminal and typing (in my case):
cd BitTorrent\ Sync/
./btsync
There’s no GUI, it’s web based, so you can now close the terminal. Open your web browser and go to http://localhost:8888. You’ll need to agree to their terms and conditions. After that you’ll need to create an account (shown below).
Enter a name and password and click OK.
With the account created it’ll ask you to login again. Congratulations, you’re in BitTorrent Sync (shown above).
Now create a folder on your machine that will be synced to other machines. Do not put the sync folder inside the BitTorrent Sync folder.
In the BitTorrent Sync WebUI you click ‘Add Folder’ (shown on the next page, top left).
Here you give it the folder you want to sync (in my case it’s ‘BitTorrent Sync Folder’) then click ‘Generate’. This will create a ‘secret’ (or a code) that is unique and identifies that folder. Finally, click ‘Add’.
Your folder is now ready to send, but it’s empty. For this initial test, I’ve added an image to my sync folder. After a few seconds the ‘Size’ for that folder quickly updates and says 198 KB in 1 files. It has indexed it and is ready to send, but it has nowhere to send it. I’ll now add BitTorrent Sync to my laptop using the same method as above (download the archive, unarchive it, run the btsync file, and open it in my web browser).
To get the folder on my laptop, I first create a folder on my laptop (you can call it anything, but I gave it the same name as on my desktop machine), then click ‘Add Folder’. In the popup I point it to the folder I just created but do NOT click Generate. Here I type in the ‘secret’ that was generated on my desktop machine. Finally, I click OK.
My laptop now shows that it synced my one file and is linked to ronnie-desktop (shown below left).
The screenshot of my laptop screen was saved into my sync folder, and, when I went to my desktop machine, the screenshot was in my sync folder and I could see that it was connected to my laptop and that I now had two files in my folder.
One thing to watch out for, though, with a laptop: beware of closing the lid and the laptop closing the internet connection and going into hibernation or low power. That will stop the sync between machines. If possible, change your settings to keep the internet connection alive if nothing else.
Oops!
So let’s say I accidentally delete the screenshot I took on my laptop. My webUI now shows 1 file left. I could probably recover the file from my rubbish bin, but what if I’m on my laptop? Well, if you show hidden files, and go into the sync folder you’ll see that there’s a .SyncArchive folder. That folder holds the file I deleted, but it’s only stored on the machine that it was created on. So while it doesn’t show up at all on my desktop machine, the deleted file is in the .SyncArchive folder on my laptop.
Mobile Devices
If you’d like to send your sync folder to your mobile device, then you need to install the BitTorrent Sync app and a barcode/QR scanning app. I’m using Android and got the app via the Google Play store.
Once installed and running you simply tap the screen to add a folder. You’re now asked to choose a folder on your device. This is where it will save the synced files. Next, you can either type in the big long ‘secret’ (best of luck there!), or you can scan the associated QR code. To get the QR code you click the ‘Secret / QR’ button which is on your webUI. Finally, I ticked the ‘Automatically’ sync’ box as I have unlimited data on my mobile phone. If you’re using mobile data, then you’ll need to go into the app settings and enable it to use mobile data. This is off by default to save you from suddenly getting a large download which may cost you money on bandwidth.
One thing to watch here is that you don’t copy large files into the sync folder which then have to be downloaded to your mobile device.
You can also assign folders on your device to be backed up which is handy for photo folders and such like.
Using a file manager (on your device), you can place files into your sync folder and they will, of course, appear on your desktop/laptop machines. I used that idea to get the screenshots from my phone to my desktop (without using my wifi connection as a test) and that let me easily insert the screens into this article.
Startup
You’ll obviously want to add the btsync application to your startup. How to do this varies by desktop, but in Mint it’s done by going into the System Settings > Start-up Programs and clicking ‘Add’, giving it a name and the command to run (using the Browse button).
Read-Only
BitTorrent Sync also has a nice ‘Read-Only’ feature that you can use. When generating a ‘secret’, you can choose to have it read-only. Handy for sharing with a friend who just needs to grab files, but not make changes. You can see the two ‘secrets’ for each folder by clicking the ‘cog’ icon (beside the red X icon) and clicking the ‘Advanced’ tab. In there you can also generate a ‘one-time secret’ which is valid for only 24 hours.
Conclusion
The only downside that I can see with BitTorrent Sync is that there’s no server (like Drive or Dropbox) that holds your files should your desktop/laptop have an accident. Having said that, I think the whole idea behind BitTorrent Sync is that you don’t rely on a company to hold your files as they may be up to no good with your stuff.
The fact that it lets you sync to mobile devices is a great idea, and handy for quickly moving files from device to desktop. I usually use AirDroid for getting files to my desktop, but BitTorrent Sync may make things much faster and easier.